If you aren’t familiar with Nickelodeon’s popular television show, Spongebob Squarepants, you won’t understand this title. If you are, GREAT! You don’t need to read this next little blurb!

[Spongebob Squarepants is enrolled in “boating school,” an under-sea equivalent to traditional driver’s ed. His teacher, Mrs. Puff, assigns his class a paper, summarizing what they’ve learned in boating school. Spongebob cannot write his paper, repeating the phrase “what I learned in boating school is…” until he can think of something. The clip is included below – not the best quality, but it gets the point accross]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiExCESUepc[/youtube]

It’s hard re-calling everything you’ve learned over the course of a semester. What I learned in Eng302 is…

*CRAMP*

Just kidding.

This course has opened my eyes to a lot of information regarding new media that I use every day without realizing it. I couldn’t tell you how many Apple products I’ve owned in my lifetime (hint, I’m using one now) or how many times I go on Facebook a day, or how heavily I rely on Google for my everyday search inquiries. I googled the featured image for this post, as well as the Spongebob video clip. And don’t get me started on Amazon, it’s been my day-1 BFF since I learned how much I loved online shopping. I utilize all of these platforms every day, multiple times a day, without even realizing what large conglomerates they are. (BIG 4!)

As a Comm major as well, I am no stranger to discussion on privacy, social media, and I’ve seen Marshall Mcluen’s “The Medium is the Message” more times than I can count. But this course has dug a little deeper into the relationship with this technology within humanity. In my other classes, we learn the in’s and out’s of social media, what it’s used for, different technologies, and it’s impact on social movements, political campaigns, etc. In this class, we’ve taken it down to an individual level, discussing privacy policies and what it means to be an individual utilizing these technologies. Google, I love you, but I’m absolutely terrified of you now after learning about the information you take from me and sell to advertisers.

I also discussed in a previous digital reflection, how I was essentially blind to webseries. I used to think they were just people who were trying to get famous and made DIY TV shows in their spare time. Before this class, never had I ever watched a web series on my own time (aside from a few Jenna Marbles videos that my friends had shown me). Now I understand that they are more than just hobbies, they are a channel to communicate relative issues and concerns, and bond millions of people who identify with the same demographics or issues. I guess you could say I’m pretty mainstream – I love my Gossip Girl and my Grey’s Anatomy and I cried when I finished Desperate Housewives. So I guess there was no reason for me to actively seek out different kinds of media because TV gave me what I wanted. I’m halfway through Friends right now on Netflix and I feel myself falling into the trap of wanting “the Rachael” haircut, which was super popular when the show was aired on television. Regardless of my secret shames, I’ve learned there’s a lot more out there than what’s fed to us on mainstream TV, and it’s a lot bigger than anything I could have imagined.

The group project taught me a lot about people who utilize YouTube, especially within the University. You have your “zoomass” stereotypes putting up party videos and glorifying the party culture that exists here, and you also have marketing videos to publicize the university and attract potential students, and even entertainment (i.e. umass athletics) sharing videos to current students, minuteman fans, and alumni. Founded in 2005, YouTube is just this massive entity with endless possibilities. Yet, I also learned that not everything is brought up in its search queries, and it’s algorithms are questionable.

Overall, I’ve taken a look at my media usage and how I’ve looked at new media and technologies, and reassessed the possibilities for such powerful tools. They have reshaped society and what can be defined as humanity. Neoliberalism was also a HUGE topic of discussion, and the topics of race and gender in platforms like video games. There are limited choices in what kinds of characters people can play as, and it raises the question about stereotypes in the media that may have not been acknowledged before.

I can’t necessarily sum up what I’ve learned in Eng302 in a sentence, as Spongebob attempted to do, but I can leave the course with a solid understanding of a variety of topics within textuality and new media.

*CRAMP*

During one of the weeks when my team was “on-call,” we discussed YouTube and the readings for the week. One of the associated terms in which I made a Key Term, was webseries. They go hand in hand, as YouTube has become a popular place for publishing webseries and sharing people’s individual creations.

By definition, “a web series is “a series of scripted videos, generally in episodic form, released on the internet, or also by mobile/cellular phone””

(Yes, I just quoted my own blog entry. Oops!)

But I’ve learned a lot more since generally searching for a general definition. I’ve learned that webisodes are generally 5 to 10 minutes long and get right to the point with their plots and narratives. Anyone with an idea can pick up a camera and start filming and produce their own series. I’ve also learned that webseries are much more than a hobby to many people.

To certain groups, they are a means of expression for ideas that have yet to be picked up by mainstream television. Producing a webseries gives minority groups and ideas a channel to voice their opinions on issues relative to their demographic. Some unrepresented demographics on mainstream television (i.e. blacks or the LGBTQ community) find a stronger voice in watching certain webseries, as well. Though there is not really one major source or platform for sharing webseries, and most people need to actively seek them out, communities continue to emerge, bonding over specific issues portrayed within the content of the series (for example, domestic abuse, drug addiction, love and related topics, etc.).

Now, one MAJOR source of confusion for me was in regards to online networks like Netflix, who produce their own shows, such as Orange is the New Black or House of Cards. Well, I’ve learned that they follow a more traditional/mainstream television model and are NOT webseries. And this example has been brought up quite frequently throughout the remained of the course (and I sink a little lower in my chair each time because I initially made the mistake of calling OITNB a webseries). Netflix original series run as long as traditional shows aired on television, have a higher budget and production quality, and can only be accessed with a Netflix subscription.

Orange is the New Black does cover some issues not addressed on mainstream TV – such as homosexuality, transgender issues, issues of race, etc. but not in the same way that actual webseries do. Webseries found online, though scripted, have no boundaries on what they can and cannot include. There is no regulation on content or censorship as there is on mainstream television (or Netflix, which has become the college-student’s take anywhere TV). Some Webseries HAVE been picked up for television by networks such as HBO, but for the most part they remain a strong “underground” channel.

So, lesson learned – Orange is the New Black is NOT a webseries, and the difference will forever be ingrained in my head because of this class.